Chapter Fifteen

 

 

“David, I would like very much for you to accompany me to the Christmas pageant in Dover the week after next,” Mary said, her arm entwined in his, holding him captive.

He continuously glanced at his wife, who seemed to be ignoring his predicament. “I’m not sure I’ll be available to escort you,” he politely replied.

“Poppycock! I won’t take no for an answer.”

Nervously glancing around the parlor, he noticed two tiny, taxidermy quail arranged with dried flora displayed under a bell jar. A beautiful white marble fireplace covered one wall, and the extravagant matching carpet, upholstery, and drapes filled the room with burgundy and gold. The wallpaper was adorned with printed flowers. Upon closer observation, he saw they were lilies. He stifled a snicker.

Mrs. Montgomery emerged holding a cake. Everyone sang “Happy Birthday.” David was finally released from Mary’s grasp. He immediately took advantage of his newfound freedom by distancing himself.

“Make a wish,” Abigail said, clapping excitedly.

Mary threw a sly glance at David, looked at her cake, pulled her blonde pipe curls back from her face, and blew out the candles.

The room exploded with applause. The distraction allowed him time to make his way toward the front door unnoticed. Stepping out into the yard, he stood in the cool, late afternoon air, contemplating when the war would end. He remembered he needed to discuss his plans to return home with Anna, but knew she wouldn’t be happy about leaving her family. She was his wife, however. Therefore, she was obligated to accompany him. Someone tapped him on the shoulder. Expecting it to be Mary, he wheeled around.

“Oh, Stephen. I didn’t hear you,” he replied with a smile.

Stephen smirked at him.

“I, uh, have a difficult time hearing out of my left ear,” he explained. “Ain’t you supposed to be in Washington City?”

“What happened to cause your impediment, David?” Stephen asked. “Did you come too close to a shell?”

Startled for a moment by his accurate assumption, David forced a snicker to disguise his surprise. “Your sister will be happy you’re here,” he remarked.

“She already knows.”

Stephen whirled on his heels and walked into the house. David apprehensively followed. For the rest of the afternoon, he noticed Stephen staring at him, and wondered if he somehow knew of his marriage to Anna.

The Brady’s arrived back home that evening. David saw Renegade grazing alone in the pasture.

“Now how’d you git out, ole Pard?” he asked aloud, assuming his horse must have found a way to open his stall door. “Reckon I’ll have to change the latch again.” He led Renegade inside.

The family attended church the next morning. Afterward, they exchanged cordial greetings with the Montgomery’s. David noticed Stephen wasn’t in attendance but shrugged it off, relieved he wouldn’t have to converse with him. Once they returned home, he followed his new bride upstairs.

“Stephen’s behavior yesterday made me right uneasy,” he said.

“Oh, David. I think your imagination has gotten the best of you. What could Stephen possibly know?”

He shrugged it off. “Reckon you’re right. There’s somethin’ else I want to talk to you about.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, I’ve been thinkin’ about what we’ll do after the war. I’d like to go home to Alabama for a spell.”

“Yes, darling, I’m quite aware we will be taking a trip down South,” she replied, dragging her brush through her long, golden blonde hair.

“You’re all right with that?” he asked.

“A visit would be very nice,” she said, seating herself at her dressing table. She gazed into the looking glass. “And I am looking forward to meeting your mother and sisters.”

He smiled. “What if they want us to stay, Anna? I’m expected to run the farm.”

“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” she replied. “God will decide what will happen when the time comes.”

“What if I decide? What if I insist we stay down there?”

She gaped at him. “What?”

“My ma and sisters are dependin’ on my return. It’s my responsibility to take care of them and the farm. I promised my pa.”

She snorted. “I’m certain they’re getting along fine without you. Besides, you made that promise before we met. Things are different now.”

“No, they ain’t. I still have an obligation.”

“Well, I have an obligation too.”

“You’re my wife now. Your obligation is to me, and I’ve decided we’re movin’ down South.”

Her jaw dropped. “How can you expect me to do that?” she growled. “You are asking far too much of me, and I refuse.”

She ran out of the room and tromped down the steps with David close at her heels. He saw Sarah wheel around from the stove to stare at them.

“Anna, wait,” he ordered.

Turning to face him at the foot of the stairs, Anna roared. “How dare you!”

He laughed nervously. “How dare I? Because you’re my wife, that’s how.”

“Just because I vowed to marry you, it does not mean you have the right to decide what I say, how I act, or anything else for that matter.”

The piano stopped playing. Abigail and Maggie came into the kitchen from the parlor, their eyes wide with alarmed curiosity.

“Anna, if I decide we’re stayin’ in Alabama, then that’s what we’ll do.”

“No, we won’t!”

He glanced at her sisters. They glared at him.

“I decide, and that’s final,” he said.

Anna stepped up close to him and stuck her face in his. “You listen to me, David Summers. Maybe your Southern belles allow their men to treat them with disrespect, but I won’t tolerate it! Do you understand me?”

“I ain’t disrespectin’ you.”

“Oh, yes you are. I am not a slave girl, or chattel, or someone you can control.” Tears started streaming down her cheeks.

“Don’t talk to me that way.”

“I’ll talk to you any way I please.”

She turned to walk away, but he grabbed hold of her arm. She retaliated by slapping him across the face. He immediately released her, too stunned to react. His mouth gaped open in disbelief.

“Perhaps it was a mistake I married you after all.” She sobbed and ran outside.

“You hit me,” he hollered. He looked at Sarah. “She hit me.” He started toward the door, but Sarah stopped him.

“No, I don’t think it’s wise for you to follow her right now. Let her have a few moments.”

“I need to speak to her,” he grumbled, his anger rising.

“If you lose your temper and raise a hand to her, she will never forgive you. Believe me, dear, I know my niece.”

He put his hand to his burning cheek and frowned at her. “She hit me,” he repeated. He turned to the girls, who were still gawking at him.

“You’d do that?” Abigail asked in a high-pitched voice that sounded like a screechy violin. “You’d take her away from us? Forever?”

Maggie’s expression cut him like a knife.

“Oh, my—m—mercy. Now everyone hates me,” he stammered. He slowly ascended the steps.

“Don’t fret, you two,” he heard Sarah say. “Anna will get her way because she has him by the heart. You’ll see. She won’t stay in Alabama for long.”

David scowled.

“I’ve never seen anyone fight like that before,” Maggie said quietly, her voice reflecting her astonishment.

“They’re newlyweds,” Sarah explained. “They make love, and then they make war. I’ve seldom known a couple starting out who didn’t go through the same process.”

“Even you, Aunt Sarah?” Abigail asked.

“Yes, my dear. Even me. Those two are very much alike, and at the same time, very different. They’ll come to terms with one another eventually because they love each other.”

David’s heart ached. He went into the bedroom and cracked the window to help clear his head. Sitting on the bed, he rehashed his conversation with Anna. Sometimes she could be so stubborn! He’d make her understand, and he knew once she met his kin, she wouldn’t want to leave.

Later that afternoon, he heard Sarah inform her nieces she was driving over to Grace’s to work on some sewing, which he interpreted as upcoming Christmas gifts.

“I’ll see you tomorrow!” Sarah called.

He glanced out the window to see her drive away in the landau. Plopping down on the bed, he picked up a book to read.

A knock came at the front door.

“Stephen,” he heard Anna say. “What are you doing here? I thought you were on your way back to Washington.”

David stopped reading to listen.

“There’s something I need to attend to first. Anna, dear, these are comrades of mine. This is Corporal Maxwell Hunter.”

“Miss,” the stranger acknowledged.

“And this is Lieutenant Robert Marks.”

“How do?” the other soldier said.

Their conversation piqued David’s curiosity. Rising to his feet, he looked out the window. He didn’t see anything unusual, other than several military equines tied to the post.

“Gentlemen, pleased to make your acquaintance,” Anna said cordially. “Please come in from the cold. Would you care for a cup of coffee? Or something to eat?”

“No, thank you,” Corporal Hunter said.

David made his way across the room and stood in the hallway to better hear their conversation.

“Anna, is there somewhere else you could go right now?” Stephen asked. “Could you ride over to Mary’s for a while and take your sisters with you?”

“Aunt Sarah just left with the landau, and we can’t all fit in the buggy.”

An eerie silence encroached.

He must have learned about our marriage, David thought.

“Stephen?” Anna asked. “What is it? Why do you want us to leave?”

“To protect you, my sweet. Where is your cousin, David?”

“Upstairs, I believe,” she replied.

“Abigail,” said Stephen, “would you please fetch your cousin? I have some questions I’d like to ask him.”

“Okay,” she said.

David glowered. If it was a fight Stephen wanted, he would give it to him.

He heard Abigail climb the stairs. “Stephen’s here,” she announced. “He brought his friends, and they want to meet you.” Taking his hand, she smiled innocently.

“Okay, Miss Abigail. Let’s go see what they want.”

He followed her downstairs and saw Stephen standing inside the front door. Two Union soldiers were positioned on either side of him.

“Hello, Stephen,” he greeted.

He held out his hand, but Stephen refused to take it. The other two Yankees came to attention, their hands hovering over their holsters. David pretended not to notice.

“Are you on your way back to Washington City?” he asked. “Or don’t the trains run today, this being the Sabbath?”

“We’re here on official business,” Stephen stolidly stated.

“I’ve had enough,” Anna said with a scowl. “Stephen, what is this about?”

He scratched his perfectly-trimmed beard. “I discovered something in the barn I think you should see.” Turning to one of the bulky officers, he said, “Lieutenant Marks, please go out and get the article in question.”

Marks saluted and went outside.

David grew apprehensive. “Pardon me for a moment. I’ll be right back.”

He walked down the hallway and ascended the steps so quickly Stephen had no time to protest. Entering his room, he threw open the armoire door, reached inside for his pistol, and groped frantically. To his horror, it was gone. Turning back toward the hallway, he saw Maggie in the doorway, staring at him. She entered the bedroom.

“What are you looking for, David?” she asked softly.

He was dumbfounded.

“Is it this?” She pulled his handgun from behind her back and pointed it at him.

“Miss Maggie?” he asked, staring at the loaded pistol aimed directly at his chest. “Please…give me my gun.”

She shook her head. “I can’t do that,” she responded. She cocked the trigger.

David’s eyes grew wide. He couldn’t believe what was happening. “Maggie,” he insisted. “Give me the gun!”

Footsteps thumped up the stairs. She hid the gun behind her back as Stephen entered.

“No use trying to run, Summers. We know what you are.” He pulled out his sidearm and motioned toward the doorway with it.

Gritting his teeth, David unwillingly stepped past him. Stephen noticed the Testament on the bedside table. He picked it up and followed his captive downstairs. Maggie trailed after them.

“Go on out front,” Stephen said to his prisoner.

David complied. His eyes met Anna’s for a moment. Her stunned expression cut through him. He walked past her toward the parlor. Stepping outside, he saw the other two soldiers in the yard, waiting for him with their pistols poised. One held a yellowish-brown piece of clothing. David instantly recognized it. The three sisters spilled out onto the porch and stood in silent awe. A cold breeze whistled around them.

“I found this in the barn,” Stephen explained, replacing his pistol to his hip as Lieutenant Marks handed him the jacket. “I believe it’s yours.”

He thrust it in David’s face, but he turned his head away.

“What is that?” asked Anna.

Displaying the bloodstained hole in the front of the garment, Stephen said, “I think you know.”

Before David could react, Stephen tore open the front of his shirt, revealing David’s scar on his left shoulder.

“Just as I suspected,” he snarled. “A perfect match.”

David glared at him and covered his scar with the torn shirt.

Stephen peeled the jacket open. Brown, dried blood crackled as he did so. He looked inside the lining. “It says here this coat belongs to a ‘David E. Summers from Morgan County, Alabama’.” He sneered at David. “And in the pocket, I discovered your enlistment paper.”

David recognized the paper at once. He remembered the day he and Jake had joined the cavalry. They had marveled at the revelation by reading their enlistment papers out loud to each other. Both had agreed to keep their papers inside their jacket pockets and close to their hearts. But now, David wished he hadn’t.

“You, sir, are a Confederate,” said Stephen. “And this is definite proof.”

David’s darkened eyes narrowed to slits. His hatred for all Yankee Bluecoats reignited, but he held his tongue to protect his loved ones.

Stephen snorted. “I found this upstairs, and I think you’ll be needing it.”

He pulled the Testament from his pocket and tossed it at him. The small book fell open. The bookmark Josie had sewn for him, the Southern Cross, fell out for all to see. David winced. He stooped down, picked it up, and shoved it into his trousers pocket.

“Here, you can wear this. It’s cold where you’re headed.” Stephen laid the disgusting, fur-covered garment across his prisoner’s shoulders. “And as an appointed officer of the United States government,” he continued, “I hereby place you under arrest.”

Producing a pair of handcuffs from his coat, he cuffed his captive. David found himself incapacitated with his hands bound in front of him.

Anna gasped, clamping her hand over her mouth.

“Darling,” Stephen said to her, “your cousin has been deceiving you.” His voice filled with remorse. “Were you aware of his true identity?”

David looked at Anna. Their eyes locked. He slightly shook his head.

Remembering the promise she’d made to him the morning after their wedding, she looked back at Stephen and said quietly, “No. None of us knew.” Tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Please don’t take him, Stephen,” Abigail wailed.

Maggie wrapped her arms around her. Abigail buried her face into her sister’s embrace and began weeping.

“I’m sorry, Anna,” David said.

The soldiers started to lead him off.

“Wait!” She ran into the house.

David looked at her sisters, their pitiful expressions tearing at his heart. Anna returned with his hat and a heavy gray coat. She placed the slouch hat on his head and threw the coat around his shoulders over the weathered butternut jacket. The coat was long, reaching down past his knees. It felt heavy on his back. He recognized it as one of her father’s garments.

“Stephen,” she said. “If you have a thread of decency, you will allow him to keep this coat. Promise me.” She threw an insistent glance at him.

He nodded.

She reached around her husband’s neck, pretending to straighten his collar. “Come back to me,” she whispered.

He faintly smiled at her.

Collecting herself, Abigail approached him. “Here,” she said, pulling the buckeye he’d given her from her dress pocket. “You need this more than I do now.” She poked it down into his coat pocket.

“Corporal Hunter, go to the barn and fetch his stallion,” Stephen instructed.

“Yessir,” the Corporal responded. He started for the barn.

“No!” Anna whirled around to face Stephen. “Don’t take the horse,” she implored. “We need him here. Please, Stephen, do that much for me.”

Looking down into her pain-stricken face, his expression softened. “All right, dear. I’ll allow you to keep the beast, even though the army could put him to good use.”

The soldiers forced David to climb up onto one of the two army mules they had brought along before mounting their own steeds.

“I’m sorry you had to witness this, Anna,” Stephen apologized. “No one in the county will know what has taken place here today. My last intention is to tarnish your reputation.”

David’s fury for Stephen burned into his soul like hellfire, but he was unable to unleash it.

“Where are you taking him?” asked Abigail, shivering. The breeze had now become a bone-chilling, blustery wind.

“There’s some place special for his kind, little lady,” remarked Corporal Hunter with a sinister grin.

Stephen scowled, obviously distraught by the duty he was performing. “Farewell, darling,” he said to Anna. “I’ll see you at Christmas.”

She didn’t acknowledge him. Instead, she kept her eyes fixed on her husband.

The anguish in her eyes broke David’s heart. He gazed down at her and, as reassurance, gave her a sorrowful smile.

She cupped her hand over her mouth. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

The soldiers spurred their mounts and started off, taking David with them. He glanced over his shoulder to see Anna fall to the ground, and her sisters run to her aid. Looking back over at Stephen, he glared at him from under his slouch hat. Stephen’s flippant arrogance was obvious by the way he rode with his chin pointed to the sky. David made a vow to himself: someday he would find revenge. He would make Stephen pay for all of this.